HOA Legi-Slate

The California Legislature appears to be continuing down the same road as other legislatures in addressing community association issues -- by putting more and more specific details and requirements into the statutes.  A new law recently signed by the California Governor requires associations to distribute an agenda with meeting notices and prohibits boards from discussing anything not on the agenda, with a few exceptions.  For a complete copy of the bill click here.
 
The California legislature is also considering a bill that will mandate board member education (this is a carry-over bill from 2007) and will likely restate the Davis Sterling Act (which is California's version of the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act.)  Part of the restatement is expected to include sections of other codes being placed in the Davis Sterling Act. This seems to be in line with Representative Carroll's inclusion of a reference to the Fair Housing Amendments Act in bill 08-1135 introduced last week in Colorado.

I will be introducing a bill in our legislature that disqualifies any person from serving in that august body unless and until he/she has either(a) lived in a covenant-controlled community for at least 3 consecutive years, or (b) earned a living away from the public trough (i.e, in the private sector), while married or with significant other, for at least 5 consecutive years.

So, if this bill passes, in California, a board would be prohibited from discussing a problem or issue brought up during the "Homeowners' Forum?" This is great! I love it! This would cut down on the amount of time needed to conduct a meeting. A homeowner would have to ask in advance to have something placed on the agenda, then wait until the next meeting to discuss it. That is, assuming the board agrees to place it on the agenda.

I have an even-better idea: Just let the legislature set the agenda for every HOA, and it wouldn't have to worry about what is allowed to be discussed by homeowners in their own community.

Having read the pending new legislation in California, is it possible that the legislators have forgotten that Board members are volunteers and these requirements will only increase the stress of Board service and prevent timely business actions.

The agenda bill seems totally unreasonable to me. How organized do they really expect a board of volunteers to be? We regularly use the "other old" and "other new" headings for items which board members want to bring up, and there is usually something. While this seems applicable to a 250 unit condo association, it's ridiculous in an 8 unit building. It seems like this will be nothing more than an obstruction to business getting done.